What does it mean that the Word was with God (John 1:1)?

Answer

The opening verses of John’s gospel are perhaps the most theologically dense writings in all the Bible: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning” (John 1:1-2). These words and the ideas they convey lay the groundwork for John’s entire gospel, which was penned to demonstrate that Jesus Christ is the incarnate Son of God.

The term translated as “Word” is Logos in the Greek language. John uses it here as a clear reference to Jesus Christ. The Hebrews often described God in terms of His powerful word (Psalm 33:6;Psalm 107:20). With a few concise statements, John proclaims that Jesus, like His heavenly Father, has always existed since the beginning of time. Jesus was with God in the beginning because He is God, and He always has been.

Right from the start, John introduces the doctrine of the deity of Christ and confirms His eternal nature alongside God as the Creator of the universe «All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. », (John 1:3). To his first-century, Greek-speaking audience, John conveys simple truths that need no further explanation. However, for present-day Bible readers, the phrase “the Word was with God” conceals an important truth about the relationship between God and Jesus. There is no single English equivalent that fully captures the meaning of the word “with” in this context.

In English, we commonly interpret the preposition “with” to mean “near” or “beside.” Yet, the original Greek term conveys a dynamic, active union in the closest, most intimate sense. When John stated, “The Word was with God,” he was indicating that the divine Word was in a living, active union with God, in the most intimate way possible.—Jesus Christ—was not only present alongside God from all eternity but was in a living, dynamic, co-equal relationship of close communion with Him. The Holman New Testament Commentary explains, “The Greek word is pros which literally means ‘toward,’ implying a face-to-face relationship” (Gangel, K., Broadman & Holman, 2000, Vol. 4, p. 9).

The relationship between God and Jesus is eternal and intimately personal. The works of Christ are the works of God. The words of Jesus are the words of His heavenly Father. Because they are one, Jesus reveals the heart and mind of God to us (John 14:9-10). The author of Hebrews explains: “In these last days he [God the Father] has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world. He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power” (Hebrews 1:2-3;ESV).

Jesus, who is the Word, was with God in every sense of the word. Not only is Christ the image of the invisible God (2 Corinthians 4:4;Colossians 1:15), but He and the Father are one in nature and essence «I and my Father are one. », (John 10:30). Jesus prayed for His followers to share in this same inseparable, face-to-face union: “I pray that they will all be one, just as you and I are one—as you are in me, Father, and I am in you. And may they be in us so that the world will believe you sent me. I have given them the glory you gave me, so they may be one as we are one” (John 17:21-22;NLT).

When Jesus said, “Before Abraham was born, I am!”

“Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am.”, (John 8:58), He was claiming to be God. There was no doubt among the Jewish people that these words were a declaration of deity, for they reacted by picking up rocks to stone Jesus for blasphemy according to Mosaic Law “And he that blasphemeth the name of the LORD, he shall surely be put to death, and all the congregation shall certainly stone him: as well the stranger, as he that is born in the land, when he blasphemeth the name of the LORD, shall be put to death.”, (Leviticus 24:16).

English readers may have to delve beneath the surface to comprehend the apostle’s statement that “the Word was with God” expresses the deity of Jesus Christ and His inseparable oneness with God the Father. But in John’s first epistle, his meaning couldn’t be more evident: “And we know that the Son of God has come, and he has given us understanding so that we can know the true God. And now we live in fellowship with the true God because we live in fellowship with his Son, Jesus Christ. He is the only true God, and he is eternal life” “And we know that the Son of God is come, and hath given us an understanding, that we may know him that is true, and we are in him that is true, even in his Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God, and eternal life.”, (1 John 5:20, NLT).